M. But let us not dwell too much on these questions, but rather let us return to our subject.
I say, and say again, that happiness will submit even to be tormented; and that in pursuit of justice, and temperance, and still more especially and principally fortitude, and greatness of soul, and patience, it will not stop short at sight of the executioner; and when all other virtues proceed calmly to the torture, that one will never halt, as I said, on the outside and threshold of the prison; for what can be baser, what can carry a worse appearance, than to be left alone, separated from those beautiful attendants?
Not, however, that this is by any means possible; for neither can the virtues hold together without happiness, nor happiness without the virtues; so that they will not suffer her to desert them, but will carry her along with them, to whatever torments, to whatever pain they are led.
For it is the peculiar quality of a wise man to do nothing that he may repent of, nothing against his inclination, but always to act nobly, with constancy, gravity, and honesty; to depend on nothing as certainty; to wonder at nothing, when it falls out, as if it appeared strange and unexpected to him; to be independent of every one, and abide by his own opinion.
For my part, I cannot form an idea of anything happier than this. The conclusion of the Stoics is indeed easy; for since they are persuaded that the end of good is to live agreeably to nature, and to be consistent with that—as a wise man should do so, not only because it is his duty, but because it is in his power—it must, of course, follow that whoever has the chief good in his power has his happiness so too.
And thus the life of a wise man is always happy. You have here what I think may be confidently said of a happy life; and as things now stand, very truly also, unless you can advance something better.
I say, and say again, that happiness will submit even to be tormented; and that in pursuit of justice, and temperance, and still more especially and principally fortitude, and greatness of soul, and patience, it will not stop short at sight of the executioner; and when all other virtues proceed calmly to the torture, that one will never halt, as I said, on the outside and threshold of the prison; for what can be baser, what can carry a worse appearance, than to be left alone, separated from those beautiful attendants?
Not, however, that this is by any means possible; for neither can the virtues hold together without happiness, nor happiness without the virtues; so that they will not suffer her to desert them, but will carry her along with them, to whatever torments, to whatever pain they are led.
For it is the peculiar quality of a wise man to do nothing that he may repent of, nothing against his inclination, but always to act nobly, with constancy, gravity, and honesty; to depend on nothing as certainty; to wonder at nothing, when it falls out, as if it appeared strange and unexpected to him; to be independent of every one, and abide by his own opinion.
For my part, I cannot form an idea of anything happier than this. The conclusion of the Stoics is indeed easy; for since they are persuaded that the end of good is to live agreeably to nature, and to be consistent with that—as a wise man should do so, not only because it is his duty, but because it is in his power—it must, of course, follow that whoever has the chief good in his power has his happiness so too.
And thus the life of a wise man is always happy. You have here what I think may be confidently said of a happy life; and as things now stand, very truly also, unless you can advance something better.
—from Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 5.28
The word on the street, among those who claim to know their way around, is that you can choose to be a good man, or you can choose to be a happy man, though you shouldn’t count on being both. This is because they assume a conflict between character and contentment, failing to understand why they are actually one and the same. If we only expect to receive for ourselves, we will not consider how we are fulfilled by what we are willing to give of ourselves.
While a balanced soul cannot excise pain, it is certainly able to rise above pain. When the whole person is improved, no one excellence is abandoned for the sake of another, but all these aspects are perfected together, each playing its proper role, in its fitting place. To be good is to be happy, and to be happy is to be good, since we are made to be one instead of many, in the service of a single nature.
Just as a body cannot survive without nourishment, so a soul cannot thrive without virtue. Happiness does not leave us as long as we cling to an informed conscience, and if we commit to maintaining our integrity, we cannot be denied the joy of satisfying the end for which we are created. Yes, there will be agony and hardship, sometimes to staggering extremes, and yet for any seeming loss on the outside there can always be a guaranteed gain on the inside.
In my Catholic upbringing, I often wondered how the saints could be so dedicated, and especially how the martyrs could endure such agonies, sometimes even expressing their gratitude or cracking jokes.
Yes, it is only by grace that all things are possible, an article of faith which even the cautious philosopher can comprehend, but Providence also allows the room for our cooperation, and I eventually came to appreciate how the blessed have chosen to know the true and to love the good with such total devotion that any lower things are immediately subsumed under the glory of the higher. Like Socrates, they can say with absolute confidence: “They cannot harm me.”
If bliss is something complete, it will not be limited to gratification, to property, and to fame, which always beg for more and more. Happiness leaves nothing more to be desired, and it is therefore attained by nothing else than the exercise of our very essence, as creatures of reason and of will. From such lofty heights, fortune now looks very small.
The word on the street, among those who claim to know their way around, is that you can choose to be a good man, or you can choose to be a happy man, though you shouldn’t count on being both. This is because they assume a conflict between character and contentment, failing to understand why they are actually one and the same. If we only expect to receive for ourselves, we will not consider how we are fulfilled by what we are willing to give of ourselves.
While a balanced soul cannot excise pain, it is certainly able to rise above pain. When the whole person is improved, no one excellence is abandoned for the sake of another, but all these aspects are perfected together, each playing its proper role, in its fitting place. To be good is to be happy, and to be happy is to be good, since we are made to be one instead of many, in the service of a single nature.
Just as a body cannot survive without nourishment, so a soul cannot thrive without virtue. Happiness does not leave us as long as we cling to an informed conscience, and if we commit to maintaining our integrity, we cannot be denied the joy of satisfying the end for which we are created. Yes, there will be agony and hardship, sometimes to staggering extremes, and yet for any seeming loss on the outside there can always be a guaranteed gain on the inside.
In my Catholic upbringing, I often wondered how the saints could be so dedicated, and especially how the martyrs could endure such agonies, sometimes even expressing their gratitude or cracking jokes.
Yes, it is only by grace that all things are possible, an article of faith which even the cautious philosopher can comprehend, but Providence also allows the room for our cooperation, and I eventually came to appreciate how the blessed have chosen to know the true and to love the good with such total devotion that any lower things are immediately subsumed under the glory of the higher. Like Socrates, they can say with absolute confidence: “They cannot harm me.”
If bliss is something complete, it will not be limited to gratification, to property, and to fame, which always beg for more and more. Happiness leaves nothing more to be desired, and it is therefore attained by nothing else than the exercise of our very essence, as creatures of reason and of will. From such lofty heights, fortune now looks very small.
—Reflection written in 3/1999
IMAGE: Il Sodoma, St. Sebastian (1525)
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